One of the things Celeste of Travelling in Mary Janes went on and on about is the dessert cafe culture in Adelaide. I knew this dessert café culture had to be extra special for her to get so hyped up about it. Afterall, she has lived so many years in Melbourne and she was getting somewhat jaded with the food culture. Whereas being from up here in Brisbane, I have never heard of a dessert cafe, much less been to one.

Theoretically, one is supposed to head to a dessert cafe after dinner. So these dessert cafés typically do not start their business till after 8pm and they stay open late, tempting the nightowls with a sweet tooth to sample their sweet treats.

Given our limited time in Adelaide, Celeste took us to one of her favorite dessert cafés – Eggless.

Eggless changes their menu every month and they experiment a lot with flavours, so while some items might be a hit or miss, Eggless is most certainly never boring.

Eggless‘s owner Ken and his staff are kept busy with the endless flow of punters looking to satisfy a sweet tooth in what feels like the middle of the night. Upon arrival, you sign your name and contact number on the clipboard parked outside the door and wait your turn for a table outside the cafe. Depending on the night, you might be waiting a few minutes to an hour. Although we were waiting about 20-30 minutes for a table to be made available, Eggless had a heater turned up and some seating for waiting customers.

Chai tea with milk on the side

Popcorn, Banana & Salty Toffee Sundae. AUD$

The Popcorn, Banana & Salty Toffee Sundae is a “fun, salty sweet dessert made up of homemade dairy free popcorn ice cream with fresh banana, crunchy popcorn & salty toffee sauce”. It is not terribly sweet and possibly the ‘healthiest’ menu option with the fresh fruit.

. AUD$9

I really wanted to try their Molten Chocolate & Butterscotch Pudding, which had already ran out. Instead I went with the Nuts About Chai, a nutty chai cake accompanied with sweet chai drizzle & vanilla ice cream. It has a lovely crumbly texture from macadamias and I found it easy to polish off the whole serve on my own.

Dylans Dark Sticky Gingerbread cake with strawberry compote. AUD$9

Similarly, Celeste had her eye on the Green Tea & Lychee Creme Brulee, but that too had run out as an a la carte option and none of us were willing to share an Eggless Tasting Platter (which included a small serve of the Green Tea & Lychee Creme Brulee) with her.

After whining for several minutes, our waitress suggested she try the day’s special – Sticky gingerbread cake with vanilla ice-cream. It was surprisingly not as gingery as I expected.

With this sample of the dessert café scene under my belt, I am really really really hoping it would find its way to Brisbane. We could always do with more sweet treats in the state, can’t we?

Leigh used to work at the West End branch whilst he was at uni. They have lunch and dinner, but the main drawcard is their extensive dessert menu, thats why most people go there. West End has closed down now though.. its only at Emporium in the Valley.

The only place in Brisbane for dessert is Freestyle Tout. They use to be in Rosalie, I think they are now at the Emporium. I would love to try the popcorn and salted toffee, it would be my kind of dessert.

If you’re sticking around after Eat.Drink.Blog, definitely see if you can visit Eggless. I doubt their popcorn and salted toffee will still be on the menu by the time November rocks up, but so far, there’s always something tempting. I’ve heard you should avoid the items on their Asian Delights section if you’re already familiar with asian desserts though.

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